Lost For A Time
by sol-li
Summary: Kagome returns to the feudal era, only to find that a battle with Naraku has killed Inuyasha. To bring him back, Kagome will make a desperate Faustian pact...
1. Lost For A Time Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE  
  
*  
  
Kagome felt that something was wrong, the moment she stepped out of the well. She paused with one leg still resting on the wooden framework. The sun was shining, birds were singing. But a cold knot was forming in her stomach.  
  
That was unusual in itself. Kaede's village had once been overrun with demons, but with the shattering of the Shikon jewel, most of them had wandered away to look for the shards. Kaede and her fellow villagers were enjoying more peace than they had since the priestess Kikyo had been killed, fifty years before.  
  
Inuyasha was the one source of mayhem. He tended to get a little hyper when she was missing. But she had never felt this sense of... sense of something just being horribly WRONG. It was kind of like the feeling she had had when the resurrected Kikyo arrived at the poison imp's cave, or when Naraku was near. But this feeling was even stronger.  
  
She wandered onto the forest paths to Kaede's village, with her heavy backpack dragging on her shoulders. When the thick leaves rustled, she halted. But there was no flicker of white and red in the trees.  
  
I wonder where he is, Kagome thought, frowning. Usually Inuyasha was itching for her returns from her own era. As much as he hated to admit it, she knew that he missed her when she wasn't there. He sometimes picked her up at home. And sometimes he was just hanging out in the clearing near the well, being crabby.  
  
As time went on, she noticed something. There was a weird, sulfurous smell in the air. Kagome sucked in a breath, and coughed into her sleeve. The smell reminded her of something in the past -- something bad. It made the hair on the back of her neck prickle unpleasantly, but she couldn't remember what it made her think of.  
  
Then it came back to her with a jolt. It was THAT smell. The same sort of smell after Naraku's poisonous vapors had dissipated...  
  
Oh no, she thought. And I was away for almost three days!  
  
She ran into the woods, but stopped as she saw a robed figure in the shadows under a spreading tree. Her breath caught, and for a moment she almost ran. Then the figure turned toward her, and she saw that there was no baboon mask. It was Miroku. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was leaning heavily on his staff.  
  
"What's wrong?" Kagome asked hesitantly.  
  
Miroku avoided her eyes. "Come with me, Kagome. I have something to tell you."  
  
Kagome felt queasy just hearing that phrase. Nothing good ever came after it. It was a buffer before bad news, a few precious seconds to cling to before the other shoe dropped. She clutched at her backpack's straps. "What is it? What's happened?"  
  
Miroku said nothing. Kagome had the feeling he wanted to speak to her, but was having trouble finding the words.  
  
"Miroku," she said in a low voice. "What - what happened while I was gone?"  
  
"I'm afraid," Miroku said quietly, "that I can't say it. Better you hear it from Sango and Kaede."  
  
He led her along the path in silence, with his head bowed. Kagome felt sick at hearing that. What could be so awful that Miroku couldn't bring himself to tell her what it was? And if Naraku had been there...  
  
The heavy, gnawing feeling grew worse as Kagome came through the village. Some of the roofs had been blasted off in a tangle of splinters and straw. Wounded people lay on pallets in the street, with bloodstained bandages wound around their heads and chests. One man, a bandage pressed over his eye, raised a trembling hand as the two went by. Miroku murmured a prayer for the man's well-being in an absent voice.  
  
"I'm sorry for you, my lady," the man said in a raspy voice.  
  
Sorry for me? Kagome thought with a shock. He just lost an eye. But he's sorry for ME?  
  
Her hand clenched into a fist as she followed the monk. Her nails bit into her skin. When they came to Kaede's hut, Miroku sat down in the doorway and rested his face on his knees. He looked tired and miserable. But Kagome couldn't bring herself to ask what was wrong. Because whatever it was, it was too terrible for him to say. Too terrible for her to get the words out of her mouth.  
  
She turned around as Kaede stepped out into the sunlight. The old woman looked even more aged, with dark shadows under her one eye and deeper lines on her face. "Kagome," she said quietly. "Ye must be strong when I tell ye of what has happened. Inuyasha... is dead."  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	2. Lost For A Time Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO  
  
*  
  
Kaede handed Kagome a cup of steaming tea. "Drink this, Kagome. Ye have had a terrible shock."  
  
Kagome took the tea but didn't drink it. She stared into the cup, seeing her own eyes reflected in it. She felt weak and dazed, as if she had been hit over the head. It couldn't be true. Inuyasha couldn't be dead. He couldn't have died. Naraku couldn't have won. Her hands began to shake, slopping tea over her fingers.   
  
Sango put a hand on Kagome's shoulder. "Shippo's been crying for the past two days," she said quietly. Her face was wan, as if she hadn't been sleeping. Behind her, Miroku was staring at his cursed hand. Both of them had been near her since she returned. Kaede as well. Kirara crept into Kagome's lap, mewing softly.  
  
"Tell me... how it happened," Kagome said. Tears were blurring her eyes, but she didn't care who saw them. If Inuyasha were here, she thought, he'd be screaming at me not to cry. He always hated it when she cried.   
  
Sango sighed, her shoulders slumping. "Kagome, maybe we shouldn't talk about this now. You're still in shock."  
  
"No. I need to know how it happened," Kagome said.   
  
"All right," Sango said in a low voice. "This is how it happened. I was... I was polishing my boomerang and planning what I was going to do for the next few days, since you told us that you needed to spend some time in your era. Shippo was learning how to play that card game you taught him, and I'm not sure what Miroku was doing."  
  
"I was just walking," Miroku said flatly. "Don't look at me like that. It was really all I was doing."  
  
"Anyway, about a few hours after you left, I heard thunder rumbling. I didn't think anything of it until I heard Inuyasha calling for us. It was some kind of storm -- a storm made out of Naraku's poisonous vapors. His puppet was heading toward the village -- presumably just targeting Inuyasha. Or you. I'm not sure which.  
  
"We fought Naraku's puppet for hours. Miroku and I were starting to tire, but Inuyasha kept fighting against the demon storm until... until Naraku somehow sealed him in a bubble of poison vapor. We could..." She swallowed hard. "We could hear him calling from the inside of it. He was suffocating, and we couldn't... Kagome, do you really want to hear this now?"  
  
Kagome nodded slowly. She felt as if her stomach had evaporated. And she was fairly sure she didn't feel a pain in her heart. Just a sick hollow, as dark and empty as Miroku's wind tunnel.  
  
Sango looked down at her knees. "Miroku... managed to suck away most of the vapors before Naraku's poison wasps showed up. Enough to break the bubble and free Inuyasha. He managed to destroy the puppet with Tetsusaiga and disperse the cloud... but for him, it was too late."  
  
"I sought to treat Inuyasha's injuries," Kaede added quietly. "But he had breathed in the vapors for many minutes, and his lungs had been poisoned. He could not take full breaths, and it grew more difficult as time went on. As ye know from Kirara's past ailment, even a demon may be killed by even brief contact with the vapors. And the cuts and scrapes he had taken were diseased and poisoned by exposure to the storm. There was too much, too deeply rooted, for me to treat. All I could do was seek to ease his pain and confusion. But even that could not be done."  
  
"What... how much... was he..."  
  
"He couldn't breathe," Sango said in a strange, singsong way, as if she were speaking without realizing. "Even when the storm was dissipated and the air was clear, he couldn't draw breath well. He was blind at the end -- the poison did something to his eyes, and he couldn't see anything at all. Kagome... I'm glad you didn't have to see him like that."  
  
"He called for you many times," Miroku said in a low voice. "He hoped until the end that you would return, even though he knew that it was virtually impossible. Eventually, I think the sound of your name and the thought of you gave him comfort, when nothing else would ease him."  
  
Now Kagome could feel her stomach. She felt sick now. I could have saved him, she thought. I could have pierced that bubble with one of my arrows, before he breathed in the vapors. If I hadn't gone back... he would still be alive. He'd probably be right in front of me, telling me that in a few days he'd be going after Naraku. And he'd be able to do it, too.  
  
Dazed, she rested her face on her knees.   
  
"His last request," Miroku said, "was that I give you this. He wanted you to keep it, to remember him by."  
  
Kagome looked up. Miroku was holding out Inuyasha's fire-rat kimono. It was wrapped around the Tetsusaiga.   
  
Kagome numbly took both the kimono and the battered sword. He's gone, she thought, hugging the Tetsusaiga to her chest. "Thank you," she said quietly.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	3. Lost For A Time Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE  
  
*  
  
Inuyasha's grave was a simple earth mound, topped with a wooden grave marker that Miroku had made. Lacking the names of Inuyasha's parents, or the year he had been born, he had simply inscribed Inuyasha's name and a Buddhist prayer that he would find a peace in death that he had never found in life.   
  
The villagers had buried Inuyasha under a spreading oak tree a little ways from Kaede's house. Kaede had originally wanted to bury him under the God-tree where he had been pinned by Kikyo, but the roots were too thick for anyone to dig there.  
  
So he was here instead. The river could be heard from where Kagome was sitting, and the sunlight streamed through the leaves of the oak. Flowers were placed reverently on and around the grave. Ironically, most were from the villagers who had hated him for most of their lives, but whom he had saved from Naraku.   
  
It all looked so peaceful. Especially for someone whose life had been tumultuous right from the start. It was almost impossible to imagine Inuyasha lying so quietly under the mound. He had been quiet when she first saw him, pinned to the God-tree where Kikyo had left him. He had looked, even though he had been "killed," as if he were only asleep. Kagome had somehow freed him from her pre-incarnation's spell. But she couldn't wake him this time.  
  
Kagome's eyes filled with tears. She rested her head on the grave.  
  
Seeing this made it final. She half-expected to look up and see Inuyasha in the trees, berating her for crying over him. But she knew he wouldn't be.  
  
She picked up the Tetsusaiga. This was almost the only thing he had, she thought. He had slept with it, bathed with it, and almost never let it go. Kagome had once said half-jokingly to Sango that she wished Inuyasha was half as attentive to her as he was to his sword. And now he had left it to her.   
  
A strange feeling rose in her. It wasn't right, she thought. It isn't right that he's gone... that he didn't kill Naraku. It isn't right...  
  
She didn't look up as someone came up behind her. "Kagome?" Sango said quietly, putting an arm around her friend's shoulders. "I'm sorry. I know you really cared about him..."  
  
"I didn' get to say goodbye... I didn't even know what was happening to him. He was calling for me, and I didn't know it..."  
  
Sango wrapped Kagome in a hug, stroking the younger girl's hair as she wept. "I know," she murmured. "I know what you feel..."  
  
*  
  
She saw Kaede's hut in the distance, drifting closer like a ghost borne on the wind. A strangled scream rang out from inside. A scream shaped into her name.  
  
"Kagome!"  
  
As Kagome drifted closer, she heard more groans and cries, muffled by the screen over Kaede's bedroom door. Shippo was curled up in the corner, with his face buried in Kirara's fur. "Make it stop... Inuyasha..." he was mumbling.  
  
Inuyasha cried out again. Miroku stepped out with a basin of bloody water and went to the door to empty it. "Miroku," Shippo said, raising his face. "Inuyasha's gonna be okay, isn't he?"  
  
The monk's grim face turned away, as if he couldn't stand Shippo's gaze. He threw the water out the door and hurried into Kaede's room. Shippo clutched at his tiny ears as another strangled cry came from inside.  
  
Kagome was terrified to see what was inside. But she was moving forward, as if invisible hands were passing her along toward the door. "Inuyasha, ye must lie still," Kaede's voice rang out. "If ye do not, I cannot cleanse ye wounds..."  
  
A breeze blew the screen aside. Inuyasha was lying on Kaede's bed, with his silk undershirt lying in tatters around him. The cuts and slashes on his chest and arms were bleeding black, as if they had been festering and rotting from the inside. His burned skin cracked as he drew in a long, rattling breath, arching his back. The old woman carefully cleaned off one of the cuts, with Sango holding Inuyasha down. Inuyasha was barely restraining another scream, as if the barest touch hurt.  
  
"Why did she have to go back?" Inuyasha said through his teeth.  
  
"Maybe she'll come back," Sango sad grimly. "She often does... just try to stay with us, Inuyasha."  
  
He slowly turned his head to the side. A trickle of blood came from one of his unseeing eyes, like a tear. But he seemed to see her. "KAGOME!" he shouted.  
  
"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried, sitting up.  
  
For a moment, she stared into the darkness, confused. The image of Inuyasha calling for her lingered in front of her eyes, then dissipated in a beam of moonlight. Dazed, she collapsed back on her bed.  
  
"Kagome," a small voice said from the dark. "Can I sleep with you tonight?"  
  
"Sure, Shippo," Kagome said. She felt the little fox-demon creep under the covers and cuddle beside her. "I miss Inuyasha," he mumbled.  
  
"I do too," Kagome said softly, wiping tears from Shippo's small face. "I'd give anything to have him back."  
  
"You won't go away, will you, Kagome?"  
  
"I won't if I can help it, Shippo."  
  
It's not right, she thought, holding the sniffling Shippo close. This isn't the way it was all supposed to be... this isn't right...  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	4. Lost For A Time Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR  
  
*  
  
The days that followed were almost as hard.  
  
In a thousand subtle ways, cracks appeared in the once-solid group, now that Inuyasha was gone. Miroku spent most of his time alone, and seemed to be depressed enough that no girls were groped. He barely spoke to the others. Shippo cried on and off all the time, and rarely left Kaede's house.  
  
Kagome spent most of her time alone, or with Sango and Shippo. The villagers took every opportunity to show their sympathy for her, but she only replied mechanically. It was like being behind a wall of water; she could see and hear, but it was hard to do. Things only seemed clear and quiet when she stayed by Inuyasha's grave.  
  
Even more oddly, she had taken to wearing Inuyasha's fire-rat kimono over her school uniform. He had been taller and broader than she was, so it hung over her like an overlarge, overshort bathrobe. When Miroku had asked about her new tendency, she had merely said, "It's the easiest way to carry it around."  
  
It was technically true, but it wasn't the whole truth. Wrapped up in the near-unbreakable kimono, Kagome felt... oddly protected. Inuyasha had given her his clothing when they were in serious danger. When she wore his kimono now, she felt as if somehow, he were still protecting her.  
  
And she carried the Tetsusaiga wherever she went.  
  
Miroku and Sango watched sadly as Kagome drifted through the following days. She only cried a few times, visited Inuyasha's grave at least a few times a day, and comforted Shippo.  
  
"Do you think she'll go back to her own time now?" Sango said quietly as Kagome left the village.  
  
"Not today," Miroku answered, resting his chin on his hand. "But I wouldn't be surprised if she vanished permanently someday soon. Inuyasha was what drew her to this era over and over. She stayed because she wanted to be near him. Now that he is gone, the few ties binding her here are gone as well."  
  
Sango sat down beside him. "Do you still plan to fight Naraku?"  
  
"I do. What about you?"  
  
"I have my village to avenge. Of course I will."  
  
"Then it's settled," Miroku said heavily. "Yet, I doubt we will succeed without Inuyasha."  
  
*  
  
One evening, about a week after her return to the feudal era, Kagome climbed a nearby hill and watched the sun set. The village was bathed in red light as the sun sank into the west. It looked like blood.  
  
I'd give anything to have him back, she thought. Did I really say that? Of course I did.... I meant it, too.  
  
She hugged the sword.   
  
It was stupid to think about. It would take a full-blown resurrection to return Inuyasha to her -- and she wasn't gonna take that risk. Even if she would, she didn't know how. It was probably a demon thing, like that bug-eyed witch Urusue.  
  
She had only heard of one person who was really resurrected, and that was Kikyo. And that had been a disaster from the get-go. Kikyo had been remade as a soul-stealing, ultra-powerful vengeful demon-priestess; Kagome's soul had been temporarily sucked from her body for that resurrection. And Kikyo had wanted Inuyasha to suffer and die, for a crime he had never committed. For some reason, Inuyasha had felt responsible for her.  
  
Kikyo, she thought bitterly. Are you finally happy now? You wanted him dead, and now he is. You got what you wanted. And now everybody else is going to pay for it. Especially him... and he didn't deserve it.  
  
There was so much he hadn't been able to deal with, so many ghosts left in his life. Would his soul even be able to rest in peace and move on, since he hadn't been able to kill Naraku? The thought brought more tears to Kagome's eyes.  
  
Only a sliver of the sun still showed over the treetops. The sky was growing darker, and the moon was starting to fade in overhead.  
  
Kagome knew that she should go back to the village, but she was too wrapped up in her thoughts to leave. She pulled the red kimono around herself and stared down at the shadowy grove where Inuyasha's grave was. If she tried hard enough, she could see the marker in the moonlight.  
  
"It wasn't right," she murmured.  
  
She thought about how he had looked the day she had left. He'd been sulking because of some little argument they had had; she didn't even remember what it had been about, it was so trivial. As she'd jumped down the well, he had been watching, with the sunlight on his silver hair, and one hand on the Tetsusaiga.  
  
Kagome sat up straighter. "No... that couldn't... unless..." She thought rapidly about something she had heard months and months before -- before Shippo, Sango and Miroku had joined Inuyasha and herself in their travels. She couldn't remember the exact words... but still... it couldn't have been all lies, could it?  
  
Maybe it is, Kagome thought, resting the sword across her knees. But it's the only chance I have. The only chance HE has...  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	5. Lost For A Time Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE  
  
*  
  
"Are you sure you'll be all right, Kagome?" Sango asked.   
  
Kagome finished examining her bike chain and stood up stiffly. "Yes, I'll be fine," she said, pulling a sweater over her uniform. "I won't ride my bike off a cliff or anything, I promise." She tried to smile, but it felt strange on her mouth.  
  
"That isn't what I meant," Sango said, sitting down on Kaede's doorstep. "We... still don't know who Naraku was after. We just don't want you to get in trouble." She ran her fingers over her boomerang.   
  
"Don't worry. Where I'm going, I don't think Naraku will think to look," Kagome said, brushing her hair out of her eyes.   
  
Sango frowned. "Can't you at least tell us where you're going?" she asked hesitantly.  
  
"I'm sorry, Sango. But I can't." Kagome dropped her backpack into the basket and tied it on.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"I-I just can't. I have a reason." Kagome kept her eyes on her backpack. Mechanically, she checked over the supplies. Then she checked again. "It has to do with something... that someone said to Inuyasha. A long time ago. I-I have to find out if it's true."  
  
"And you can't tell me what that... something is, or who the someone is?"  
  
Kagome shook her head silently.  
  
Sango started to say more, but sighed. "Will you at least take your arrows with you?" she said, holding out Kagome's quiver.  
  
Kagome took it. "I'll take this. And I'll be careful."   
  
Shippo scampered out of the house. He was starting to calm down, and no longer spent his day on Kagome's bed, crying. But his small face was tearstained, and his eyes were swollen. "Kagome? You won't go away for too long, will you?" he asked.  
  
Kagome shook her head. "I'll be back in a couple of days, Shippo. I won't be going far away."  
  
"You won't leave, will you? Really leave? If you go down the well, you'll come back, right?"  
  
"I won't, I promise." Kagome rumpled Shippo's red topknot and smiled. Then she turned to Sango. "Sango, will you do me a favor while I'm away?"  
  
"Of course," Sango said, slightly surprised. "What is it?"  
  
Kagome stepped into Kaede's hut and over to her sleeping bag. When it was unrolled, Inuyasha's kimono and the Tetsusaiga fell out. "I can't take this where I'm going," Kagome said. She held out the sword to Sango. "Will you take care of it for me until I get back?"  
  
Sango looked startled, but took the Tetsusaiga and wrapped it in the fire-rat kimono. "I know how important this is to you," she said quietly. "I'll keep it safe until you come back."  
  
*  
  
Miroku returned from his meditation long enough to say goodbye to Kagome. He and Sango had the same pale half-smile as they waved goodbye, with Shippo perched on a nearby branch. They said they hoped that Kagome would find what she was looking for; Miroku started to ask Kagome what that was, but a look from Sango silenced him.   
  
The village was swallowed up by the trees. Kagome slowed her pace as she rode through winding, rocky roads, past sunlit groves and over small stone bridges. Once she was in open fields of grass and sun, she began pedalling faster.   
  
It felt strange to be bicycling so far. Kagome had gotten used to riding on Inuyasha's back; he had always lifted her as lightly as if she were a little child. She was also the only one, aside from Shippo, whom he hadn't minded carrying.   
  
She rode for hours in silence, past rice fields with dozens of workers, little farms and the occasional retinue of samurai. At those times, Kagome usually rode her bike off-road and hid in the bushes, until the sounds of horses faded away. Without Inuyasha, she didn't feel safe by herself. Even with her bow. She touched the quiver, to reassure herself that she could stop anyone who tried to hurt her. Even Naraku himself.  
  
Her heart felt a little lighter than it had before. But sitting in the back of her mind was fear -- fear that she was just racing after a false hope. But then, she had to know. She had to be sure whether it was a lie or the truth. She wasn't sure what she would do once she knew -- but she would cross that bridge when she came to it.   
  
Anything to bring him back, Kagome thought. Her bike sailed off a steep embankment and skidded down to the sweeping road in a spray of pebbles. At the top of a hill, she paused and looked out over the valley. The sun was setting. The land below her was covered in a bluish mist; hidden among the trees were a few cottages, but they were all abandoned. And rising in the distance were three pointed mountains, like daggers -- or fangs.  
  
Inuyasha told me once about the mountains shaped like fangs, Kagome thought. Something in her rebelled at the sight of the abandoned homes, the mist, and those too-sharp peaks. It made her feel vaguely sick. But she began pedaling again.   
  
I can do this, she thought. I can do this... and I will do it. For Inuyasha...  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	6. Lost For A Time Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX  
  
*  
  
Kagome stiffened. "Was that a wolf?" she said out loud.  
  
She listened carefully, slowing her bike to a crawl. Beside the mountains, the last hints of the sun were fading away to rose. "I could have sworn I heard a howl... no, maybe it was just the wind."  
  
A breeze ruffled her long hair. In the distance, another faint howl rose from the woods -- and was joined by a second. And a third.  
  
"Yes, it was a wolf," Kagome said, shivering. "Sounds like a pack of them. To make things worse, I'm talking to myself now. If I don't stop, people are gonna wonder about me."  
  
As she started a campfire, she heard more howling in the distance. A pair of red eyes stared at her from the darkness, then vanished. Kagome clutched her bow to her chest, waiting for any more sounds. She was in a place with few humans. Who knew what kinds of demons might be lurking in these woods? Anything from Kikyo to a band of harmless fox-demons -- something that might try to kill her, or else just ask her for a serving of noodles.  
  
I wish Inuyasha were here, she thought with a pang. But the rustling faded away, and another howl rose in the distance.  
  
Kagome closed her eyes. When morning comes, I have to be fast, she thought. If Koga had heard of Inuyasha's death, he would be after Kagome in an instant. If the wolves were tracking her but not attacking, it meant that the wolf-demons were nearby. If Koga came across her, she would have a hard time convincing him to go away -- especially if he found out what her plans were.  
  
"He can be so thick," she murmured. "He doesn't get what I think at all..."  
  
Sighing, Kagome reached into her backpack and pulled out a package. Her stomach lurched as she saw what it was. Ramen. He always loved it when I brought it for him, she thought, feeling tears form in her eyes. He wouldn't admit that, but one of the first nice things he said to me was about ramen.  
  
She clutched the ramen cup to her chest. "I won't just leave you dead," she mumbled. "Inuyasha, I miss you..."  
  
*  
  
The faint howling of wolves kept her awake long into the night. Kagome lay on her back, with her bow in her hand and her eyes on the stars. The crackle of the campfire was a comforting reminder of what had happened in the past, when Inuyasha would sit in the trees and watch over her in the evenings...  
  
I gotta get him back, she thought drowsily, closing her eyes. I can't leave him... I can't let him just stay dead. Everything reminds me of him -- trees, mountains, my bike, wolves, ramen, even this sweater.   
  
She felt guilty for leaving her friends behind. Shippo needed her. And Kaede, Miroku and Sango were worried about her. But she knew that they would all think she was nuts to do this. Maybe she was nuts. But it was better than just sitting there, missing him...  
  
She yawned and snuggled against her inflatable pillow.  
  
When she looked up again, she saw Inuyasha cradled in her arms, his silver head resting in the crook of her elbow. There was dried blood under his eyes, and his bare chest and arms were covered in black oozing slashes. Thin streams of dark poison ran like worms under his pale skin. She couldn't tell if he was conscious or not, or even if he was still alive.  
  
She touched his pallid face, gently resting her fingers on his chin. A breath seemed to brush her hand, but perhaps it had only been the wind. Kagome tried to wipe the blood away, but it seemed to have stained his eyelids. More poisoned blood seeped over his still chest; some of it was staining his hair.   
  
She rested her cheek against his forehead. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry..."  
  
Suddenly Kagome sat up with a gasp. Her dream shattered and faded away.  
  
She slowly looked around the cold, windless clearing. The fire was dying, and the pink glow in the distance showed that the sun would be rising soon. Shivering, Kagome packed her things and bicycled off across the misty clearing. Wolves howled in the distance.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	7. Lost For A Time Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN  
  
*  
  
Kagome pedalled faster as the sounds of wolves came closer. "I can't let them catch up," she mumbled. "I can't let them slow me down! I won't let them!"   
  
She knew the wolves wouldn't hurt her, or even try to scare her, but she didn't want to lose a second. Besides, if Koga was pushy before, he would be outright demanding now. She had had enough experience with insistent, domineering demon guys to know that their tantrums tended to eat up time. And if he nags me now to be his "woman," I know I'll end up slapping him again, she thought.  
  
Her bike rattled and bounced over the rocky road. Kagome spared a look over her back, and saw a few wolves staring at her. They weren't moving.  
  
"I guess they're scared to come any closer to these fang mountains," she murmured. "Good news for me. I guess they know who lives here."  
  
The mist was heavier around the mountains. Kagome slowed her bike, afraid that she might slam into a tree or rock. Eventually she slid off her bike and began walking through the mist. Vines tripped her, and branches scratched at her face.  
  
Finally she found herself at a stark gray cliffside. The rock above her was smooth and stretched up into the clouds. There was no way to climb it -- at least, not without a helicopter. Her heart sank at the sight of it.  
  
"There's gotta be a way," she said, looking up. "Inuyasha said that he spent time here when he wanted to rest." I don't know if he is here now, she thought. But it's worth a try. Anything is worth a try.  
  
She sat down and tried to think.   
  
What would Inuyasha do in this situation? He wasn't known for his subtle way of doing things; in fact, his way of finding someone was generally to run around at top speed, screaming their name. In a calmer mood, he would ask questions around a nearby village. But the only nearby villages were burned out. Besides, she was fairly sure that nobody kept track of demon movements, if the demon didn't want to be detected.  
  
A memory rose up in her mind: Inuyasha's annoyed face seemed to rise up in front of her, calling, "Wouldja stop whining, Kagome? Get off your butt already!"  
  
"You're right," Kagome said abruptly, looking up at the rock face. "I could have him right behind me and I wouldn't hear it. I'll never find him if I can't hear him, or smell him, the way Inuyasha could when he was with me. I'm just a human. There's somebody else I need to find -- someone who can lead me right to him." She smiled a little. "Somebody who is always around him..."  
  
She got up and dusted herself off.   
  
*  
  
Half an hour later, she was still wandering through the woods. The mist was starting to clear, now that the sun was rising above the trees. Kagome wiped sweat from her forehead, and slid over a mossy log.   
  
I thought I was used to the outdoors, she thought, wrapping her arms around herself. After all this time in the feudal era, I've dealt with all kinds of weather... no, that's not true. I always had someone with me. Right from the beginning... Inuyasha always took care of me.  
  
Her melancholy train of thought was interrupted by the sound of a voice. It was high and fussy-sounding, the sort of voice that Kagome associated with elderly relarives who didn't have kids. "... firewood that milord doesn't even use... it seems a little strange to me, since he says that he's perfectly warm. Whyever should he send me on a mission to gather firewood? But then, I suppose I shouldn't complain..."  
  
Kagome gasped and ducked behind a tree. In the mist, she could see a short, stumpy figure with a weird knobby object stuck over its head. The knob swayed back and forth, and Kagome caught the glint of eyes. She smiled slightly.   
  
"... up and searching for fallen sticks at the crack of dawn," the irritating voice continued. "In the damp weather too. Mother always said I had a weak constitution, so I wouldn't be surprised if I fell ill. I don't mean disrespect to milord, but if I don't need it and he doesn't need it, why should-"  
  
"Almost close enough," Kagome whispered.  
  
"He really does need to learn a little patience -- even if that wretched brother of his is finally--" The voice stopped as Kagome grabbed the knob and yanked it away -- it was a top-heavy staff. A clawed hand grabbed at her skirt. "What are you doing?" the voice squawked. "Help! Milord! Someone help!"  
  
Kagome swung the staff like a golf club, and sent the tiny demon sailing through the air and over a fallen tree. For a moment she watched the bird-like feet wobbling over the log. Then the demon leapt up, his pointed hat falling back over his head. "You wretched human! What are you doing here?" he said, waving his arms indignantly. "Inuyasha is dead and gone. There's no reason for you to pester milord with your presence!"  
  
Kagome let the staff fall. "Jaken," she said slowly. "I want to see Sesshoumaru."  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	8. Lost For A Time Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT  
  
*  
  
Jaken's green, beaky face stood out in the mist. He began jumping up and down, grabbing at the staff Kagome held just above his head. "What? What did you say?" he squawked.  
  
"I want to see Sesshoumaru," Kagome repeated, lifting the staff even higher.  
  
Jaken stopped hopping and just glared at her. His buggy yellow eyes got even buggier with outrage. "You're mad! There is no way that I shall bring a lowly human into milord's presence. Never shall I betray him that way! Especially not to one such as you, who were with Inuyasha."  
  
"I don't think you have much choice," Kagome said, leaning forward. "You're helpless without your staff, huh? And you have to go back to Sesshoumaru sooner or later. Either you take me to him, or we'll just sit here forever. And I won't hand over this staff till you take me."  
  
Jaken made noises that indicated either distress or digestive problems. "Curse you, stupid human!" he finally said.  
  
"Curse YOU, stupid toad!" Kagome retorted. Inwardly, she groaned. I'm getting as bad at this as Inuyasha, she thought.  
  
Jaken struggled with the idea for a few more minutes, scratching his head, then grudgingly held out one small claw. "Fine. I'll take you if you give back the staff. But milord will blast you to bits if you bother him -- especially since that fleabitten mongrel Inuyasha is dead-"  
  
He squealed as the staff slammed him to the ground and held him there. "Don't you DARE call him a mongrel!" Kagome snapped.  
  
"I won't again," Jaken said, as loudly as he could with his face pressed into the dirt. He scrambled up, wiped off his face, and snatched at the staff. "I'll be taking that right now."  
  
"Oh no you don't," Kagome said, holding it over her head. "I've seen what you do with this thing. If I give it to you now, you'll either ditch me or roast me alive, and I'm not gonna take a chance on that until I've had a chance to speak with Sesshoumaru. When I see him, I'll give you back the staff. Not before!"  
  
Jaken glared at her again. But then he looked at the staff, and turned away. "Follow me," he grumbled, rubbing the back of his head. "And don't be slow, mind. And never tell anyone the way in!"  
  
"I won't," Kagome promised.  
  
It wasn't hard to keep up with Jaken. His legs didn't even come up to her knees, and he ran in a wobbly trippy way that reminded her of Shippo, especially since he didn't have his staff. He ducked around gnarled trees and up onto a rock ledge, making a weird mumbling noise as he went.   
  
How can Sesshoumaru stand this little creep all the time? Kagome thought.  
  
"I can't open the portal without the staff!" Jaken announced, crossing his spindly arms. "Give it to me now, or you won't see Lord Sesshoumaru."  
  
Kagome glanced over the rock face, but couldn't see any sign of a door. It looked perfectly smooth, like a gray wall. "Okay," she said, reluctantly handing over the staff. Jaken grabbed it away and tapped it on the rock ledge. "Open to me!" he shrilled, as the eyes on the staff lit up.  
  
Kagome stepped back. The rock seemed to melt into shadows and mist, and a gust of wind blew out from inside. "Is that it?" she asked. "Is that the way inside?"  
  
"Of course it is," Jaken said crabbily. He hopped into the doorway and vanished into the darkness. Kagome followed him quickly, afraid that he was going to seal it. As the rock swirled back into place behind her, she gasped.   
  
"I'll let you out -- assuming that milord lets you go in one piece," Jaken said darkly.   
  
"Shut up," Kagome said, following the tiny figure through the corridor. She could barely see anything except a little blur of movement. He led her onto a wide, winding staircase, and past a carved window that overlooked the valley. The sight of the morning sun spilling over the treetops took Kagome's breath away. She wanted to see it for a moment longer, but Jaken was still tripping up the stairs.  
  
Finally they came to a doorway covered by a painted screen. Kagome swallowed hard as Jaken pushed it open. Here goes nothing, she thought.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	9. Lost For A Time Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE  
  
*  
  
The room was high and dark, with only a window that looked out over the valley. Sitting in an ornate chair in the shadows was a tall man in heavily embroidered clothing, with long white hair, gleaming golden eyes and a shadowed, quiet face. His slim, clawed hand held a cup of what looked like wine. He was looking out the window, apparently ignoring her.  
  
She felt her stomach twisting at the sight of the dog-demon Sesshoumaru. He looked a lot like his brother -- but his face was cold and guarded where Inuyasha's was fiery. And only now she realized how dangerous he was. In the past, Inuyasha had always been standing in front of her when they confronted Sesshoumaru. Now, she was completely alone.  
  
Sesshoumaru took a sip of his drink, still staring out the window. Even though he had assumed an air of preoccupation, Kagome knew that he knew she was there. He was trying to unnerve her.  
  
Finally she cleared he throat. "Excuse me..."  
  
Sesshoumaru's golden eyes flicked over to her, then back to the window. "I am unsure why you are here. Inuyasha is dead. Surely there can be no reason for you to bother me now that my halfbreed brother has died."  
  
Kagome swallowed hard. "I-I wanted to speak to you."  
  
Sesshoumaru took another sip, and leaned back in his chair.  
  
Kagome had to force herself to speak the next words. She was almost voiceless with fear, fear that Sesshoumaru would tell her that the answer was no. "When I first saw you, Jaken claimed that you -- that you could summon up spirits from the netherworld, and even give them bodies. I need to know if that's true."  
  
Sesshoumaru looked at her for a moment. "It is. Though it is not the trifle he would claim it is." He turned back to the window.  
  
"I want you to resurrect Inuyasha."  
  
A tiny smile touched Sesshoumaru's mouth. "I have spent long years attempting to kill Inuyasha, as his life was a constant irritant to me. Why would I return him to life for the mere whims of a human girl?"  
  
"I'd give you anything if you brought him back," Kagome said in a strained voice.  
  
Jaken, who had stayed respectfully silent up until then, suddenly jumped in front of Kagome. "How dare you?" he spluttered, waving his staff at her. "How dare a mere human try to make a deal with my lord-" His complaint was cut short as Kagome kicked him down the staircase; his muffled squawks faded away.  
  
Sesshoumaru watched with a look of vague boredom, then sat back. "You have nothing that interests me."  
  
"That's not right. I have the Tetsusaiga."  
  
The silence rang out like a thunderclap; the only sound Kagome could hear was her own breathing. Sesshoumaru hesitated, with his cup halfway to his mouth. He carefully set it down, staring out the window, before saying quietly, "What is the Tetsusaiga doing... in the hands of a mortal girl?"  
  
"Inuyasha left it to me before he died," Kagome said.   
  
"Is it with you?"  
  
"No. I didn't bring it with me."  
  
Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed slightly in annoyance. Probably at the idea of a human having the Tetsusaiga, Kagome thought. He had been crazy about that sword before. She squirmed as another heavy silence fell. Sesshoumaru rose from his carved chair and stood at the window. The sun was being obscured by clouds, and it threw his pale features into shadow.   
  
"But if you bring Inuyasha back," she said in a rush, "I'll give you the Tetsusaiga. I know that full demons can't touch it, but I can break the spell on it that burned your hand. I'm sure I can." At least, I think I can, she thought. "That way, you can use it. But I won't break it until Inuyasha is back."  
  
Sesshoumaru looked at her, with one hand resting on the Tenseiga. "You would give me the Tetsusaiga," he said in a low voice. "A sword of ultimate power... in exchange for Inuyasha's life."  
  
"Just so long as you make sure he... you make him strong enough that he won't go crazy without it," Kagome quickly said.  
  
"I am capable of that..."  
  
"And I don't want him... I don't want him to end up like... someone else I met, who was resurrected. She has a new body made out of grave dirt and steals the souls of the dead to keep herself alive."   
  
Sesshoumaru said coldly, "I would not do such shoddy work."   
  
He slowly turned to look at her. "You realize," he said, "that you would earn my brother's hatred if you gave me the Tetsusaiga in exchange for his life."  
  
Kagome nodded. "I know," she said quietly. "But I can deal with that if he comes back."   
  
Sesshoumaru sat down at the window, watching the wind ripple over the treetops. "I find it distasteful to make deals with a human," he said meditatively. "Even more so, if I am bargaining for the life of my halfbreed younger brother. But the benefits outweigh the costs." He turned his unwavering gaze at Kagome. "Very well, girl. You have yourself a deal. Bring me the Tetsusaiga in three days' time, and I will fulfill my end of the bargain. But be warned," he added ominously. "If you are deceiving me, I shall kill Inuyasha again, and you with him."  
  
"I got that," Kagome said, trying to sound defiant. "And keep in mind that if you don't bring Inuyasha back the way I've said, I won't break the spell on the Tetsusaiga."  
  
Sesshoumaru returned to his contemplation of the landscape. Kagome waited for him to reply, then realized that she was being dismissed. Trying not to shiver, she turned and vanished behind the screen. It's a deal, she thought. I just hope I didn't make the biggest mistake of my life. But the vision of the poisoned, bloodied Inuyasha of her dreams haunted her mind, and she fiercely told herself that she had made the right deicison.  
  
Sesshoumaru watched the human vanish down the staircase, with a strange expression in his narrow demon eyes. With any other human, I would be skeptical of such claims, he thought. But she has cancelled the Tetsusaiga's transformation. Perhaps she can break the spell as well.  
  
He had noted Inuyasha's protectiveness of that girl before. Evidently, he thought with a smile, she lavishes that same love on my worthless halfbreed brother. Enough to provoke his hatred.   
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	10. Lost For A Time Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN  
  
*  
  
"Go away!" Kagome shouted over her shoulder. "I mean it, you mangy mutts! Go away! Get lost! Tell Koga I'm not interested!"  
  
The wolves racing just behind her didn't pay attention. As she sped down the road, they ran just behind her bike, watching her with their yellow eyes. She was pedalling fast enough to make her knees hurt, but the wolves were catching up to her. One of them, with a scar marring his gray fur, ran slightly ahead of her before falling back.  
  
I can't outrun them! Kagome thought.   
  
She swerved wildly, wishing that Inuyasha were still with her. He'd swipe away those wolves in a minute, she thought. I just hope Koga isn't hanging around. He might not wanna mess with Sesshoumaru, but he might think if Inuyasha is dead that I'm up for grabs. I'm not, and if he tries to carry me off again, I'll tell him so in a big way. Oh, I wish I had a necklace for him too...  
  
One of the wolves barked as Kagome skidded down an embankment. Wait a minute, Kagome thought. They weren't chasing her; they were just running with her. "I guess Koga wants to keep an eye on me until he can show up in person," she murmured.  
  
Another memory of Inuyasha resurfaced. "No way am I letting that fleabag wolf take you away again! I'll turn him into a rug first!" Kagome smiled slightly, and steered back toward the mountains.  
  
The morning sun was still low in the sky, and had risen to the middle of the sky when Kagome finally saw the mountains near the village. And the wolves were still running with her.  
  
*  
  
"I mean it! Get lost! Go away!"  
  
A familiar shout made Sango sit up sharply. She dropped the mortar and pestle and scrambled out the door. Kirara and Kaede followed her out of the door, calling Kagome's name.  
  
Kagome was skidding into the village on her bicycle, with a cloud of dust and three wolves behind her. She seemed less frightened than annoyed. They're probably Koga's wolves, Sango thought darkly. She picked up her boomerang and raised it over her head. Kirara bristled and transformed into a demon-cat the size of a horse.  
  
But at the edge of the village, the wolves broke off their pursuit. They turned and vanished into the woods.  
  
Kagome rolled over to Kaede's house. "I'm so tired I can barely see straight," she said, wiping dust from her eyes. "And my legs hurt."  
  
"You were pursued by wolves," Sango said, lowering her boomerang. "Were they Koga's?"  
  
"I think so. None of them tried to hurt me." Kagome yawned. "Can I -- can I explain later?"  
  
A small furry blur shot out of the house. "Kagome!" Shippo said, running over and leaping into her arms. Kagome smiled; it was a little taste of normality amid all the weirdness. "I was so worried! Will you stay this time?"  
  
"I can't. In a few days, I have to leave again," Kagome said, rubbing her eyes. They felt as if sand were seeping under her eyelids. I'm so tired, she thought. I barely slept in the past week. She set Shippo down on the floor and wandered into the dark, cool house.  
  
Her sore knees gave out at the fireplace, and she numbly stared into the flames. The memory of her meeting with Sesshoumaru haunted her mind, and the memory of what she was risking. Inuyasha loved that sword more than anything. When he learned that she had traded it... to his despised half-brother, no less...  
  
"Kagome?" Sango knelt at her side, with a red bundle over her knees. "I kept this at my side constantly while you were gone," she added. "I didn't let anyone else handle it -- not even Miroku or Kaede."  
  
"Thank you," Kagome said.  
  
She slowly unwrapped the worn folds of fire-rat cloth. Inside, the Tetsusaiga lay in all its threadbare glory. It looked like a warrior's katana that had been used for a little too long -- the scabbard hid a battered blade, and the hilt looked worn and a bit unravelled. Kagome had seen it transform in Inuyasha's hand, turning into the fang his father had had forged into a blade. He always had looked magnificent when he used the Tetsusaiga. But she wouldn't see that again... even if he came back...  
  
"Kagome," Sango said quietly. "You're crying... what happened during the day you were gone? Where did you go?"  
  
Kagome just shook her head.   
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	11. Lost For A Time Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN  
  
*  
  
Kaede watched Kagome sleep fitfully. It would only be a few hours until sunrise, but the girl from the future had taken hours to settle down completely. Now she and Sango were cuddled under a blanket, with Shippo snoring between them. In the corner, Miroku was curled up on a mat of his own.  
  
Kaede sighed.   
  
The loss of Inuyasha weighed heavily on Kagome's soul. While she might be Kikyo's reincarnation, she still was young. It brought sorrow to her heart to see the girl suffering so, especially since she felt such guilt over his loss, though she had not been to blame. Even more so, Kaede suspected, because she and Inuyasha had not had time enough to express any hidden feelings for one another.  
  
The old woman rubbed her remaining eye. She would not have thought that she would have become so fond of Inuyasha; his crabbiness and stubbornness had been a constant source of irritation. Yet now, Kaede found that she missed the abrasive young demon.   
  
I wonder where Kagome spent the past day, she thought, walking to the doorway. It is not like her to suddenly leave alone. Yet she does not wish to tell us, and I think it is best to say nothing more... for the time being. Let her mourn Inuyasha in her own way.  
  
Down by Inuyasha's grave, she could see the form of a dark-haired woman, wearing the red and white garb of a priestess. Around her were floating long, insectile-looking demons that swirled around her body. Though her face was in shadow, Kaede knew that it would look almost precisely like Kagome's.  
  
She could not see her long-dead sister's expression. She suspected that she did not want to know what it held. When she turned back in the doorway, she saw that the woman and the demons had vanished.  
  
In the darkened house, Kagome held Tetsusaiga closer, and mumbled in her sleep, "Inuyasha..."  
  
*  
  
The next day, Kagome was walking in a daze. As before, she kept the Tetsusaiga beside her wherever she went, although she left Inuyasha's clothing in Kaede's hut. Shippo often trailed after her, but after awhile he too left her alone. Instead the little fox silently helped Kaede grind her herbal potions, occasionally running out to put a flower on Inuyasha's grave.  
  
The villagers still offered their sympathy to Kagome, and she tried to accept it. It was a little difficult, given what she had just made a deal to do.   
  
When Miroku asked Kaede about Kagome's distant behavior, the old woman said, "Let her be, Miroku. Simply let her be."  
  
When Kagome came to Inuyasha's gravesite, she felt almost like an intruder. She knelt beside the earth mound and rested her hand on top of it. What did I do? she thought. Did I just make the worst mistake of my entire life? I don't think Sesshoumaru would allow me to just back out of it.  
  
She felt numb and dazed, as if she were walking half in a dream. Her hand curled on the grave dirt. She wasn't entirely sure how Inuyasha would react when he knew what had happened. But she was sure that he would be enraged. After all, he'd gotten ticked off when Sango only stole Tetsusaiga for a few hours, and she'd been blackmailed to boot. Kagome had simply agreed to hand it over, to the second-worst person Inuyasha had known.  
  
"But do I wanna back out?" she muttered. "No, I don't. That is, I don't want Inuyasha to stay where he is. He deserved better than that. And I want him to have a chance at having what he really did deserve." She touched the Tetsusaiga, stroked the frayed hilt. "If he has to hate me for that to happen, I'll do it."  
  
"I don't - I don't know if what is happening is right or wrong, or if I'm just being stupid," Kagome said softly. "Heck, I don't even know if Sesshoumaru is lying or not. But he's the only one I can go to."   
  
She rested her head on the grave. "Inuyasha... this is probably the wrong choice for me to make. And I'll probably regret it. I just... I just want you back."  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	12. Lost For A Time Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE  
  
*  
  
"Kagome!"  
  
Kagome sat up and rubbed her eyes. The hut was filled with sunlight; she'd probably slept well into the late morning. Sango raced inside, with Kaede right behind her. She looked more freaked-out than Kagome had ever seen her before. "Kagome, you need to come quickly."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Inuyasha's grave has been robbed."  
  
Kagome barely felt it as the two women dragged her to Inuyasha's gravesite. There was a small crowd of villagers gathered around it, chattering and muttering fearfully.  
  
The grave was gone. Not just Inuyasha's body. It was as if the entire ground over and under him had been scooped away by a giant hand, leaving a smooth pit. Miroku was kneeling beside the grave marker he had made. It had been broken in half and tossed to the side of the pit.   
  
Kagome stared blankly at the pit where Inuyasha's grave had been. He didn't waste any time, she thought. It was only a couple days ago. She held the Tetsusaiga closer, rubbing the hilt with her thumb. At least nobody would suspect Sesshoumaru of stealing his brother's body. They had been such bitter enemies that he was the last person suspected.   
  
"Kagome?" Miroku said, standing up. "Are you all right?"  
  
"Yes, I'm fine," Kagome said quietly. "Thanks for asking."  
  
She stared down at the empty spot where Inuyasha had been. There was no turning back now. The thought of who she had made a deal with, and what he was about to do, frightened her more than anything else had in her life. But she had to forge on ahead, despite her doubts...  
  
Still wrapped up in her thoughts, Kagome turned and walked away from the grave.  
  
"Where is she going?" Miroku asked, startled. "Kagome?"  
  
She continued walking, as if she hadn't heard him.  
  
"I don't get it," Shippo said in a small voice. "Who'd wanna steal Inuyasha's body? And why isn't Kagome crying?"  
  
"I do not know," Kaede said. She glanced down at the robbed grave. "I would have thought her more upset." But, she thought, perhaps she has been so filled with grief that for the time being, nothing more can touch her.  
  
"So would I," Miroku said, frowning. "Kagome seemed to have such feelings for Inuyasha, and was shattered when she heard of his death. I wonder why she seems so unmoved now."  
  
"What reason would anyone have for stealing Inuyasha's remains?" Sango asked.  
  
"There can be no good in stealing the dead," Kaede said ominously.   
  
Behind her, Kagome flinched, but kept walking. Her fingers clutched the Tetsusaiga like a drowning man clinging to a piece of driftwood.  
  
Kaede knelt at Inuyasha's graveside. The young half-demon had never been at peace during his life, and seemingly his death would hold no more peace. Kaede wasn't sure why someone would steal his remains from their grave, or what fiend would do so. But after the horrific events that had resurrected her sister Kikyo, she feared what someone might do with Inuyasha's body, especially as he had been such a powerful young half-demon. Surely no pure intentions would wrest the dead from their graves.  
  
The old woman frowned. Kagome could not have... no, it isn't possible, she thought. She would do nothing wrong to Inuyasha's grave.  
  
Back in Kaede's house, Kagome curled up on the sleeping mat she shared with Sango and Shippo. She'd been full of doubts before, but Kaede's words had solidified them. But there was no turning back now. And at least, she thought, whatever happens to me, he'll be back after tomorrow. Assuming that Sesshoumaru keeps his word...  
  
"Tomorrow," she mumbled. "Tomorrow's the day."  
  
*  
  
The next morning was overcast, as if a storm were moving in. Kagome wrapped herself in a blanket as she went out to ready her bike for the ride ahead. Just so long as those stupid wolves leave me alone, she thought. Kaede had offered to send a couple of villagers with her, to make sure she was safe. But Kagome refused. Where she went, nobody else could come.   
  
They'd think I was evil or crazy or both, Kagome thought, testing the gears on her bike.   
  
When she was finally satisfied with the bike, she went back to Kaede's hut. There was something she had to get before she went.  
  
"My robes?" Miroku asked, raising his eyebrows. "Why?"  
  
"I-I-I can't tell you," Kagome stammered. "Please, Miroku, I just need your spare robes for a day or two.  
  
"Who for?"  
  
"I can't tell you that either."  
  
Miroku looked somewhat weirded-out, but he went into the next room and came back with a bundle of dark clothing. "Here you are. Are you sure you can't tell me who they're for?" he asked.  
  
"Thanks," Kagome said, tucking it under her raincoat. "And no, I can't. You'll see why, eventually. I'll get it back to you in a day or so."  
  
"You be careful," Miroku warned her. "Don't do anything unwise."  
  
Too late, Kagome thought. I've made a deal with the devil, and I'm off to pay him back.  
  
Shippo bounced up into her arms as she approached the doorway. Kagome hugged Shippo and Sango, promised that she would be back soon, and vanished into the cloudy morning.   
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	13. Lost For A Time Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN  
  
*  
  
The storm still hadn't broken when Kagome arrived at the fang-shaped mountains. As she paused at the top of a hill, dark shapes flitted in the bushes on either side of the road. More of Koga's wolves. But at least they weren't trailing her openly, like they had been before. Maybe he told them to be a little more subtle, she thought.  
  
She touched the Tetsusaiga, which she had stuffed into a gym bag. Well, here goes nothing, she thought.  
  
Jaken was pacing impatiently in front of the hidden door. Kagome could see a few bruises on his green skin, apparently from when she had knocked him down the stairs. "Finally," he said crabbily. "Lord Sesshoumaru has been awaiting you all day. You should learn some punctuality."  
  
Kagome ignored him. She looked up the cliff through the clouds, wondering just how Sesshoumaru was going to do this. She followed Jaken silently through the tunnels and stairs, until her knees felt like they were going to fall off. Her heart sank. Every step took her closer to something that would bring Inuyasha back to life, and might wreck hers as she knew it.  
  
"Not that way, this way!" Jaken said, waving his staff.  
  
Kagome hesitated. The stairway branched off in two directions, long stone stairs that spiralled up into the dark. "Which way is it?"  
  
"This way!" Jaken repeated, pointing up the staircase to the right. He began walking up. Kagome followed more slowly, listening to the wind whistling outside the mountain.  
  
It wasn't the airy room they had been in before, but a high, arched chamber carved out of the rock; it was the size of a school gym, and a balcony jutted out of one end. Sesshoumaru stood in the middle of it. His face was turned down toward something huge and dark and lumpy...  
  
Kagome caught her breath. There was an enormous mound of dirt in front of Sesshoumaru. Grave dirt.   
  
"Do you have the sword?" Sesshoumaru asked bluntly.  
  
Kagome unzipped the gym bag and pulled Tetsusaiga half out of it. Her bow and quiver were also inside, but she felt uneasy showing Sesshoumaru that she was armed. No point in getting him nervy, after all, she thought.  
  
His golden eyes narrowed slightly, and he nodded. "Very well. I shall commence." His one hand closed on the Tenseiga, one of the two swords at his belt.  
  
"Where's that little girl, Rin?" Kagome asked hesitantly.  
  
"Jaken escorted her to a hidden grove," Sesshoumaru said flatly. "She is too young to see what will happen here."  
  
I don't like the sound of that, Kagome thought. She added another question, "Are you... able to do this for anyone?"  
  
"No," Sesshoumaru said shortly. "Demons I cannot resurrect. And it is only because of the ties of blood that I am able to do so much for a halfbreed, this easily." He half drew the Tenseiga, then knelt beside the grave soil.  
  
"Inuyasha has been dead for quite some while, far more time than those I have brought back before," Sesshoumaru added, almost to himself. "His body has the bones left in the grave, but not the flesh that clothes them. That has since rotted away."  
  
If he keeps talking like that, I'm going to cry or throw up, or both, Kagome thought.  
  
He held out his slim, clawed hand. A faint bluish glow seeped from his fingertips, seeping down and crackling like lightning. Something stirred deep inside the mound, cracking and shifting the grave soil. It crumbled and heaved, as if the dirt itself was coming alive. A deep groan rumbled from somewhere inside it, like thunder.  
  
Sesshoumaru's long hair was blown back from his face. Suddenly the blue glow ceased, but he kept his hand over the mound. One of his forefingers flicked up.  
  
And an arm shot out of the grave soil, grasping convulsively with clawed fingers. Then it fell to the floor.   
  
Sesshoumaru waved his hand over the mound. A gentle wind seemed to blow in from the stormy sky, sending the grave dirt swirling across the floor. Kagome's breath caught as it seemed to seep into the smooth stones and fill dozens of cracks. The grave soil crept up the limp arm, revealing the outline of a body.  
  
"It's happening," Kagome whispered. "It's really him..."  
  
"Milord, you are truly astounding!" Jaken said loudly.   
  
With a last flick of Sesshoumaru's clawed hand, the grave soil vanished completely.  
  
It was Inuyasha. He was curled on the floor, with one arm stretched out toward her as if in supplication. He was lying on his side, with his long white hair tangled under him. Apparently the shroud had rotted away, because the only thing on his naked form was the rosary that Kaede had placed around his neck long ago. He looked peaceful, as if he were only asleep, like he had when she had first seen him.  
  
But she knew that it was just a body. He was breathing, but his soul wasn't there.  
  
Sesshoumaru studied his brother's body for a moment, then nudged Inuyasha's shoulder with one foot. The young half-demon fell on his back, still motionless.  
  
"Perfect," Sesshoumaru murmured. "Every detail is perfect." His usual contempt had given way to the intent look of a sculptor examining a half-finished work. He studied Inuyasha's body and face, before stepping back.  
  
The room seemed to grow darker as he stretched his hand over Inuyasha's body again. Kagome started to shiver as something dark and ominous seemed to open under her feet. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw wizened imps squeaking in indignation. But when she turned to look, there was only Jaken, mumbling to himself.  
  
He's pulling Inuyasha's soul back from the underworld, she thought. Oh man, this is really creepy... really, really creepy... I just hope it works...  
  
Sesshoumaru's face was taut with concentration. A pale golden light was starting to swirl around Inuyasha's body. As the demon lord curled his fingers, streams of golden light coalesced over Inuyasha's form.   
  
Slowly, Sesshoumaru drew the Tenseiga -- and ran the blade through Inuyasha's body.  
  
Kagome was too shocked to make a sound. Inuyasha's body suddenly tensed in agony and arched upward. A high shriek from the imps faded away to Inuyasha's own hoarse scream. His golden eyes opened, and one of his hands clutched at the Tenseiga's blade, which had run through his chest and into the stone floor. Then he stiffened, and collapsed back to the floor.  
  
Sesshoumaru held the sword down for a moment, then pulled it out. "It is done," he said curtly. "He lives again."  
  
Kagome raced to Inuyasha's side. "Inuyasha?" she whispered. "Can you hear me? Inuyasha?"  
  
Inuyasha groaned.  
  
"The sword," Sesshoumaru said. He looked more worn out than Kagome had ever seen him before.   
  
"Oh yeah," Kagome said distractedly. She crawled over to her gym bag and pulled out the Tetsusaiga, and an arrow. This is it, the moment of truth, she thought. Let's see how powerful these sacred arrows can be...  
  
She took a deep breath, and struck the sword with the arrowhead. There was a flash of blue light, and a shiver seemed to pass through the Tetsusaiga.  
  
She held it up. "Here. Take it."  
  
Sesshoumaru hesitated, then grasped the hilt. He held the sword up to the Tenseiga, as if admiring the matched pair. "Come, Jaken. Our work here is done." He glanced back at Kagome. "Remember this, girl. Should Inuyasha be killed once more, he shall remain dead. The Tetsusaiga was the only thing I desired." He walked to the stairway, with Jaken bobbing after him, but paused and looked back. His eyes narrowed at what he saw  
  
Kagome was kneeling beside Inuyasha's limp body, whispering, "Inuyasha, can you hear me? Inuyasha, please wake up?"  
  
The half-demon groaned and twitched, turned his head toward the sound of her voice. And his eyes slowly opened. "Kagome?" he whispered. "Is it really you... Kagome..."  
  
Kagome could feel tears in her eyes. "Yes, it's me. Inuyasha..."  
  
"I thought... you were gone... I kept calling for you..." Inuyasha was staring at her face with a sort of relief. "... I couldn't breathe and I couldn't see... I wanted you with me... after a battle with... Naraku..."  
  
Kagome hugged him tightly. Right now, it didn't matter if he was stark naked on the floor of Sesshoumaru's mountain penthouse. It just mattered that he was back, he was alive, and safe.... "You're back. I brought you back... I'm not going to leave you ever again."  
  
"Kagome... what happened to me? I remember..."  
  
"It doesn't matter anymore. Just... it'll all be okay."  
  
Sesshoumaru watched the two of them blandly. If it was necessary for Inuyasha to embrace that human girl, he could at least wait until he was clothed. Especially as the room he was in was not his own.  
  
Suddenly Inuyasha grabbed Kagome's arms and sat up halfway. He was staring at Sesshoumaru. "Sesshoumaru!" he shouted. "What are you doing with the Tetsusaiga?"  
  
"I intend to depart with it," Sesshoumaru said blandly. "And what do you plan to do about it, little brother?"  
  
"You bastard," Inuyasha growled. "You don't have any right to that sword. I left it to..." He stopped short. "I left it to... Kagome."   
  
Kagome quickly looked away. Inuyasha's eyes widened. "Kagome?" he said slowly. "You...?"  
  
"I could kill you, Inuyasha, and return the sword to her," Sesshoumaru said. "Would you prefer that?"  
  
Inuyasha glowered. His claws dug into Kagome's hand, but he was still too weak to get up by himself.   
  
"I thought not." Sesshoumaru smiled slightly. "Feel flattered, brother. The girl evidently is so besotted with you that she was willing to gain your hate, in order to restore your life. For one such as you, that must be a rarity."  
  
He turned and vanished down the staircase. Jaken stared at the two for a moment, then made a noise like "peh" and followed his master.   
  
Inuyasha was still staring at Kagome in disbelief. And there was something else there too -- hurt, and betrayal. Something he had lost over time, and Kagome knew he had never expected from her. "Kagome... you gave the Tetsusaiga to him? To HIM? You?"  
  
"I'm sorry," Kagome whispered. "I'm sorry, Inuyasha." I can't stand the way he's looking at me, she thought. I knew this was going to happen, but it hurts...  
  
She stood up and walked out of the room, leaving Inuyasha crouched on the floor. He watched her go, with a strange mix of emotions in his eyes.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	14. Lost For A Time Chapter 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN  
  
*  
  
Thunder rumbled softly as Kagome finally came back to the stone chamber where Inuyasha had been resurrected. The air was cool and breezy with the coming storm, and the light was almost gone. She had sat on the stone stairs, just staring into the darkness of the mountain passages, until finally she had worked up the nerve to go back to Inuyasha. The memory of his wide eyes full of shock still stung.  
  
I feel like such a fool, she thought. I knew all along that he was going to react that way. And I let it hurt me...  
  
She looked around the darkened room, but didn't see him. Then a flash of lightning caught a glint of silver hair out on the balcony. Inuyasha was huddled by the railing, staring off into the valley below him. He had wrapped himself carelessly in Miroku's borrowed outer robe; it was wrapped loosely around his legs, and it was open to the waist in front. One of Inuyasha's fists was pressed against his heart.  
  
"Inuyasha?" Kagome called in a low voice.  
  
Inuyasha didn't move.   
  
Kagome came closer and knelt by the railing beside him. "I don't expect you to talk to me," she said quietly. She wiped at her eyes.   
  
For several long, cold minutes, the only sound was the thunder. "Why'd you do it?" Inuyasha finally said in a low voice.  
  
"Because... because it was the only thing Sesshoumaru wanted, that I could give him," Kagome said. "I-I know you really loved that sword, and if... if I had been able to do anything else, I would have. But I just wanted you to come back -- because I knew that it wasn't right, Naraku winning like that against you, and I heard how alone... how you..." Kagome sighed, and tried to compose herself. "Inuyasha, I don't expect you to forgive me. And I... I know you hate me for what I did, but I just wish you could try to-"   
  
"SHUT UP!"  
  
Before Kagome could react, she was being crushed in Inuyasha's arms, with her face pressed against his neck. He was breathing hard, as if holding her were a strain on his new body. "Kagome," he said hoarsely, "you thought all along that giving the Tetsusaiga to Sesshoumaru would make me hate you?"  
  
"Yes..."  
  
"And you did it anyway, thinking that I was gonna hate you when I... came back from the dead."  
  
"Yes," Kagome said. She wanted to cry, but was too exhausted by the whirlwind events of the past day. So she clutched at the dark robe and just leaned on him. "I didn't want to lose you."  
  
Inuyasha's arms were becoming looser and gentler, but he was still keeping Kagome pressed up against him. She rested her cheek against the side of his throat and closed her eyes, feeling his pulse beating against her skin. He's so warm, she thought, closing her eyes. Inuyasha...  
  
"Well, you were wrong," Inuyasha said, pressing his hand to her cheek and pushing her away from him. "Not the way you thought, though. Did you think I hated you?"  
  
"Yes..."  
  
"Idiot."  
  
Despite her tiredness, Kagome bristled. But the strange, almost sad expression on Inuyasha's face stopped any angry words on her lips. "Inuyasha... what are you doing?" she asked.  
  
"You said that you gave away the Tetsusaiga because you didn't wanna lose me," he said in a low voice. "Didja mean that?"  
  
"Of course I did! I've been going crazy for over a week because I couldn't stop thinking about you."  
  
The moon and stars were blocked out by the storm clouds, and all Kagome could see of him now was his eyes. "D'you think I could hate you if you did it because of that?"  
  
Kagome blinked. "So you're not mad at me?"  
  
"I didn't say that," Inuyasha said gruffly.   
  
"So you ARE mad at me..."  
  
"A little."  
  
"A little?"  
  
"Most of it's for Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha growled, looking out at the gathering storm. "And there's no way he's keeping the Tetsusaiga. I'll find a way to get it back from him."  
  
He stopped short, flustered. Kagome was leaning on his bare shoulder, her eyelids drooping. Suddenly she slid close to him again, wrapping him in a hug. "I'm glad," she murmured sleepily. "I'm glad you're back... and that you don't hate me for what I did..."  
  
"Feh! You think I could hate you?" Inuyasha said with a hint of his old bluster. When Kagome didn't answer, his eyes softened slightly, and he slipped an arm around her back. After a moment of hesitation, he rested his cheek against the top of her dark head. "Nobody ever did anything like that for me, Kagome... it's not something I'd forget, ever. When I was dying, I wanted you with me, and now... I'm just glad I have another chance."  
  
Thunder crashed overhead, and a cold wind swirled the robes around Inuyasha's body. Inuyasha looked up briefly, and blinked as a cold raindrop struck his eye. "Let's get inside," he mumbled.  
  
Kagome didn't answer.   
  
"Dammit, she's asleep!" Inuyasha said, astonished. His face flushed slightly. How much of what I said did she hear? he thought. As more raindrops hit his head, he brushed those thoughts aside and carried her into the dark room.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	15. Lost For A Time Chapter 15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN  
  
*  
  
A dark figure crept to the edge of the balcony, and crouched just inside the shadows. He stared down at the puddles forming as the rain fell, watching his rippling reflection.  
  
Behind him, Kagome was curled up under her raincoat. Inuyasha glanced back at her, letting his gaze linger on her face. Then he touched his chest. It still hurt where the Tenseiga had run through his heart. Not much, just a little.   
  
It was nothing compared to the pain he remembered; it tingled through his body when he closed his eyes. He remembered breaking out of Naraku's bubble of poison vapors, feeling as if he were drowning in boiling oil. The next thing he had known, he was draped over Miroku and Sango's shoulders, trying not to whimper as they dragged him to the village. He didn't know how long he had been in Kaede's hut. His vision had blurred and gone dark. Every heartbeat pulled the poison deeper into him, and every touch set his skin on fire. And he couldn't breathe.  
  
He had craved to hear Kagome's voice, but had only heard the sound of Shippo crying, and Miroku murmuring a prayer for the dying.  
  
Inuyasha's eyes softened as he crouched down beside her, watching her just sleep. He wasn't sure what he owed her -- something massive -- but he'd find a way to make it up to her. Not just because she brought me back, he thought. Because she did it... because she wanted to stay with me.  
  
She must've been scared, he thought. Kagome had more guts than almost anyone else he knew, but facing Sesshoumaru was a daunting task even for demons. For humans, it was all but unthinkable. His golden eyes narrowed slightly at the memory of his brother's face as he had twisted the knife, telling Inuyasha how fortunate he was. He'd meant it as a taunt.  
  
But he was right.  
  
Inuyasha touched her face. She thought I'd hate her, he thought. And she brought me back even then.  
  
Kagome mumbled something in her sleep, ending with "... Inuyasha..."  
  
Inuyasha sighed. Thunder was still booming in the distance, and the rain was pelting the balcony outside. A gust of wind blew a few stray drops onto Inuyasha's back. Without thinking he held his arm up to shield Kagome. When the wind died away, he relaxed, watching her sleep.   
  
*  
  
Kagome stirred, slowly waking up. She was resting against something warm and solid, and arms were holding her like a little child. A soft breeze made Kagome snuggle against him... Inuyasha... she could recognize that sort of vaguely doggy smell he had...  
  
What the... she thought, suddenly awake. What happened last night? Why am I... sleeping with Inuyasha?  
  
She opened her eyes. Inuyasha was sitting up against the stone wall, with Kagome curled up in his arms. Her head had been pillowed against his shoulder, with his arm curled under her back. He was fast asleep, with his head bowed over hers. A stray breeze ruffled his long white hair. Kagome brushed it out of his eyes.  
  
Her touch woke him. Inuyasha blinked, then looked right down at her.  
  
"How did I get here?" Kagome asked quietly.   
  
"The floor looked pretty hard," Inuyasha said gruffly.  
  
"Hey, I wasn't complaining," Kagome said, yawning.   
  
She felt a little uneasy as Inuyasha stared at her for a moment longer, as if he wanted to speak but couldn't think of what exactly to say. Then he blushed. "We'd better get goin'," he said quietly. "The others will be worrying about where you went, Kagome."  
  
"Sure," Kagome said, resting her head against his shoulder. "Just a little longer, okay?"  
  
"Okay," Inuyasha agreed, resting his hand on her arm.   
  
Kagome felt the heartbeat against her cheek getting a little faster. He's really back, she thought.   
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	16. Lost For A Time Chapter 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN  
  
*  
  
The wind blew Kagome's hair back from her face as she looked over the balcony. The view made her dizzy. Mists were swirling and flowing under her like a river, and occasionally she could see the ground through them. It was a very long way down.  
  
"How are we going to get down?" she asked, inching back.  
  
"No problem." Inuyasha bent down and began wrapping Miroku's outer robe around his legs, like a pair of makeshift pants. He looked a little odd in the borrowed outer robe, which left his chest and most of his legs bare, once he had it arranged to his liking. Kagome smiled a little at the idea of Inuyasha dressed as a Buddhist monk.   
  
When he was finished adjusting the robes, he dropped to one knee. "Hop on."  
  
"Are you strong enough to do that?" Kagome said.  
  
"Sure. I picked ya up last night, didn't I? Come on."  
  
Kagome hesitantly climbed onto Inuyasha's back. He curled his arms under her legs before taking a flying leap off the balcony. Kagome squeezed her eyes shut as he leaped from ledge to ledge, cutting through the mist.   
  
Dark shapes darted under them as Inuyasha paused near the ground. He sniffed. "Wolves," he grumbled under his breath.  
  
"Koga's wolves," Kagome said, resting her chin on his shoulder.   
  
"What are those fleabitten creeps doing here?" Inuyasha growled.  
  
"They've been following me whenever I left the village. They were scared to come any closer when Sesshoumaru was here."  
  
"Well, let 'em take a sniff at me," Inuyasha said with a tight little smile. "Let 'em confuse Koga a bit more. If he thinks he can just take you when"  
  
"You're going to confuse a lot of people," Kagome said.  
  
Inuyasha landed with a bloodcurdling yell in the midst of the dark shapes and raised his clawed hands. The wolves sniffed the air, then backed away, whining and laying back their ears. They eyed Inuyasha suspiciously, then turned and vanished into the woods, growling softly.  
  
Inuyasha looked around the clearing with satisfaction. "Why'd you say that?" he asked.  
  
Kagome slid off and strode over to the glade where she had tied her bike. "Well, I'm sure everybody knows you died before, but I didn't tell anyone before I left. The only people who know you're alive now are me and Sesshoumaru and... JAKEN!" Her voice rose to a shriek. "I'm gonna kill that little toad!"  
  
Inuyasha rushed to her side. A heap of melted, burned metal and plastic was stuck to some tree roots. Apparently Jaken had been putting his staff to work on her bicycle. Kagome was fuming, struggling to think up some words to express how she felt.  
  
"Come on, hop on me again," Inuyasha said, bending over. "I'm not totally used to this new body, but I can get us to the village."  
  
With Kagome on his back, Inuyasha leaped over the treetops. The dark forms of wolf-demons appeared in the woods below; he could smell them. But none of them -- except Koga, if he was there -- could even dream of catching up with him. With another soaring leap, he passed them and landed on the riverbank.  
  
Kagome felt her heart rise as the sun spilled through the clouds. A cool breeze was blowing in from the river, and she was skimming over the treetops with Inuyasha, just the way she had ever since arriving in medieval Japan. She rested her hands on his shoulders and pressed her cheek against his neck, watching the morning sun melt away with the night fogs from the mountainsides, and set the rivers on fire.   
  
It was a cliche, but she felt as if she and Inuyasha were the only people, alone together in a reborn world. The mountains, fields and forests seemed to stretch forever, falling away swiftly as Inuyasha ran. On impulse, Kagome hugged Inuyasha from behind. He squeezed her knees, the only response he could make while he carried her.   
  
As they came closer to Kaede's village, Inuyasha leapt up into the boughs of the towering God-Tree, bouncing higher with every breath. Then he soared from the uppermost bough down to the hillside overlooking the village. He didn't see the tears in Kagome's eyes.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	17. Lost For A Time Chapter 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN  
  
*  
  
The bucket tottered around the side of Kaede's house, teetering dangerously on its tiny fox feet. When water spilled over the side, Shippo staggered and let the bucket fall. Then he collapsed against it, gasping.  
  
He wiped the water from his small face. Ever since Kagome had left, Shippo had been busying himself with chores around Kaede's house. It kept him from thinking about the horrible things that had happened to Inuyasha.  
  
At the thought of Inuyasha, more tears came to his eyes. First he had lost Momma and Poppa, and now Inuyasha and probably Kagome too. The thought made him want to curl up under his tail and cry again, but he wouldn't let himself. After all, Kaede had asked for this water.  
  
Shippo stood up and brushed himself off. He was about to pick up the enormous bucket again, when something caught his eye in the fields in the distance.  
  
Two figures were walking over the hill, hand in hand. One of them was definitely Kagome, with her weird little uniform and big bag. Shippo shielded his eyes. The sun was shining brightly behind them, and a ray of it turned the companion's hair a shimmering silver...  
  
"Inuyasha!" Shippo shrieked.   
  
He raced toward them as fast as he could, tripping on his feet more than once. It was Inuyasha, standing next to Kagome in what looked like one of Miroku's dark blue robes. Shippo launched himself at Inuyasha. The half-demon caught him in mid-air. "Inuyasha! Is it really you?"  
  
"Course it is," Inuyasha said, dropping Shippo on Kagome's shoulder. "Who else would I be?"  
  
Two other figures ran around Kaede's house, hearing Shippo's yelling. "Shippo, what are-" Miroku started to say. Then he and Sango stared at Inuyasha, speechless for the moment. The silence was broken when Inuyasha called out, "I want my clothes back; if I came back naked you couldn't've buried me in them. And what are you gawkin' at?"  
  
"Inuyasha," Miroku said faintly. "You've... come back."  
  
Inuyasha crossed his arms. "Disappointed?" His tough-guy attitude was marred by Shippo hugging one of his shoulders.  
  
Sango and Miroku began running over, with wide, slightly desperate smiles on their faces. "But how's this possible?" Sango asked, gripping Kagome's arm. "Inuyasha, we saw you die..."  
  
"Yeah, ya did," Inuyasha said. "You better ask Kagome. She knows more about it than I do..."  
  
Kagome flushed and looked away. A part of her past shame and fear had returned to her mind, now that Miroku and Sango's faces showed their disbelief. Sesshoumaru might have the one to actually resurrect Inuyasha, but Kagome had struck the deal. She'd made the first move, not Sesshoumaru. Unconsciously she leaned against Inuyasha, felt his unseen fingers touch the small of her back.  
  
The hanging screen was pushed aside, and old Kaede stepped out into the sunlight. For a moment she thought that she had dreamed the tall, silver-haired boy at Kagome's side. But it was Inuyasha, half-dressed in one of Miroku's outer robes, with Shippo clinging to his bare shoulder. He stood closer to Kagome, who was studying her feet.   
  
"... all along? It was a part of your plan?" Sango asked.  
  
"Why didn't you tell us, Kagome?" Miroku added.   
  
The old woman closed her remaining eye, sighing deeply. The mark of conscience was printed on Kagome's face. She had done something to return Inuyasha's spirit to the world of the living. It was something, Kaede thought, that no human was capable of doing -- not even a powerful priestess. And normally, demon and human alike, no creature restored the dead for good purposes. Kikyo was proof enough of that, a tormented dead woman with a clay body.  
  
And yet, she thought with a smile, I know what it is that prompted Kagome to risk her own soul, to return Inuyasha's among us. The old woman stepped forward into the meadow on the edge of the village.   
  
"... I feel fine. I'm a little stiff," Inuyasha was saying gruffly. "Like nothing ever happened to me."  
  
"But you remember everything?" Miroku was asking, rubbing his chin. "Yet... what about the time you were actually dead?"  
  
"Nothing," Inuyasha said, scratching his head. "Can we go inside? This robe of yours is pretty damn drafty."  
  
Kaede smiled slightly as Kagome led Inuyasha toward her. The half-demon looked up from trying to brush Shippo off his chest. Her eye took in the unmarked skin of his arms, face and chest. A faint glimmer of pale energy lingered over his heart, but what that meant, Kaede was not sure. What she saw most clearly was the faint, unmistakable look in Inuyasha's eyes when he looked at Kagome's bowed head. It was a look that Kaede had not seen there often -- the look of one who knows he is cared for.   
  
"Welcome back, Inuyasha," the old priestess said quietly.   
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	18. Lost For A Time Chapter 18

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN  
  
*  
  
"... anyway, I was so tired and it was raining, plus Inuyasha wasn't quite back to normal yet, so we spent the night at Sesshoumaru's little thing up in the mountains, and came here in the morning and... well, that's when we met all of you," Kagome said lamely. "That's about all there is to the story... more or less."  
  
She rested her chin on her knees, not meeting Kaede's eyes.  
  
Inuyasha had been sitting still the whole time, listening. Every now and then he tensed up, as if afraid that Kagome might relate something embarrassing. His shoulders stiffened as Shippo bounced over them, tickling Inuyasha's throat with his tail. The fox shrimp was poking and rubbing him all over, as if he weren't sure this was really Inuyasha.  
  
Let 'im, Inuyasha thought, tilting his head back. Shippo squeaked and grabbed Inuyasha's hair to keep himself up. "Stop pullin'," the half-demon growled.  
  
"I suppose I was wrong," Kagome said quietly.  
  
Miroku and Sango looked at one another, then at Kaede. The old woman's face was expressionless, but her bright eye lingered on them. First on Inuyasha, with the dissipating scent of death on his body and a look of peculiar peace in his golden eyes. Then on Kagome, her face betraying the guilt she felt. As if the motion were unconscious, Inuyasha inched closer to Kagome. A familiar look of belligerence came into his face. "Whatcha staring at, old woman?" he said. Shippo peeked over his shoulder.  
  
"Merely musing over what Kagome has told me, Inuyasha. Do not yip without cause," Kaede said placidly, folding her hands. "Kagome... ye took actions that were unwise. Ye risked more than merely the Tetsusaiga; ye risked your own soul, seemingly without thought for the far-reaching consequences. But if ye ask if ye were truly wrong... that I cannot answer. I think not." She smiled slightly. "Yet if ye ever take it into your head to try such a thing again, speak first and act second."  
  
Kagome sighed. I'm not sure if I could, she thought. And what's more... my biggest question hasn't been answered. She looked over at Inuyasha, taking in the lines of his face and half-dressed body. As Sesshoumaru had said, his reborn body was perfect. Every detail, every inch of skin, every claw, every white hair. He looked as if nothing had ever happened to him, except the loss of his clothing.  
  
"Get OFF the ears, runt!" Inuyasha shouted suddenly, punching Shippo from his head.   
  
"It's really him!" the tiny fox-demon wailed before landing in Sango's lap.  
  
"It certainly seems like him," Miroku said, with a small smile.  
  
"I've been tellin' you all along," Inuyasha said testily. "Who do you think I am, if not me? And Miroku, I want my clothes back NOW."  
  
"Very well," Miroku said, rising. "Come with me, Inuyasha."  
  
Sango stood and walked with them. As they stepped out of Kaede's house, the slayer's voice said quietly, "I'm glad you're back, Inuyasha -- although I can't quite believe it..."  
  
"You think I can?" Inuyasha cracked his claws. "And I've got a new score to settle with Naraku. AFTER I get the Tetsusaiga back... and don't you look at me like that, Shippo. I'm not gonna get killed again after Kagome took all the trouble of bringing me back..."  
  
Their voices faded away. Kaede sat back, watching Kagome's face in the firelight. "What troubles ye, Kagome?" the old woman said gently. "What passed between ye and Inuyasha on the mountain?"  
  
"It's not that," Kagome said hesitantly. "He was really sweet to me. It's not his fault. It's just... I kept thinking about Urasue and how she resurrected Kikyo. I didn't -- actually do the spells to bring back his body and soul. But I made the deal. And I kept wondering -- if I did the same thing she did, sort of, am I any better than she was?"  
  
Kaede smiled. "Ye are too hard on yourself, Kagome. There is one great difference between what Urasue did, and what ye did."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"Urasue's heart was as black as forge coal, and she resurrected Kikyo merely to augment her own power. But ye drew Inuyasha back, truly alive as Kikyo is not, despite fears that he would hate ye for it. Ye brought him back out of love, not greed." Kaede stoked the fire. "Ye should go with Inuyasha now, Kagome. He may have need of ye soon."  
  
Kagome smiled a little. As she ran out into the sunlight, Kaede looked after her with a mixture of pride and sadness. Ye have more strength than anyone counted on, if ye carried this terrible burden without a word, the old woman thought. Inuyasha has little idea of how lucky he is.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	19. Lost For A Time Chapter 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN  
  
*  
  
It was the first beautiful day in what seemed like years that didn't seem like a taunt to Kagome. She sat back on the riverbank and splashed her feet in the river, while minnows flitted around her toes. The sun was warm on her face.  
  
Everything's finally back to normal, she thought, smiling. Inuyasha's back with us, and soon we'll be going after the jewel shards. No wait -- not everything is normal. The Tetsusaiga is still gone. And when we're ready, we'll be going off to try to find it before continuing the battle against Naraku.  
  
She sighed. "Things are getting so complicated. As if they weren't before. I wonder where Sesshoumaru's gone..."  
  
Her thoughts were interrupted as a blur of red and white landed behind her. Inuyasha sat on the bank beside her, staring down at his rippling reflection. "Almost ready to go. You comin'?"  
  
Kagome sighed. He looked even closer to normal again, now that he was dressed in his usual red clothing, and strong enough to leap over the trees again. The sight of him staring intently at the minnows, looking as healthy and alert as he ever had, was driving the memories of her nightmares from her mind. It was kind of hard to believe that those horrors had ever been real, that he had been poisoned and blinded by Naraku.  
  
Her talk with Kaede had eased the doubts in her heart. But Kagome had still tried to stay out of sight as the villagers saw Inuyasha. They stared, they gaped, they whispered and inched back as the half-demon walked past them, half-clothed and followed by Sango and a teary-eyed Shippo. He bristled a little at being stared at, but settled down grudgingly as Kagome whispered to him that they were just shocked.  
  
Eventually they had decided, apparently, that Kagome had somehow brought him back from the dead with some kind of magic. Kagome didn't feel like correcting them with what actually had happened.  
  
Inuyasha had spent the next few days bounding to the tops of trees, running at full speed through the woods, determined to get his strength back. He seemed determined to prove that nothing -- not even death -- could keep him down for long. Kagome had followed him at a distance, content just to watch him bouncing around.  
  
"Kagome?"  
  
Inuyasha's voice broke through her thoughts. He was looking mildly annoyed. "Didja hear me?" he asked tersely.  
  
"Sorry, I was thinking. What was it?"  
  
Inuyasha ducked his head and mumbled something.  
  
"Inuyasha, I can't answer if you mumble," Kagome said.  
  
"I said," Inuyasha replied loudly, "did you really mean what you said to me?"  
  
"I didn't say anything."  
  
"I didn't mean NOW." Inuyasha's face flushed slightly. "I meant when we were in that room, when I first came back."  
  
Kagome frowned, racking her brain for what she had said when Inuyasha was brought back to life. "You mean when I said I wouldn't leave you ever again?" she asked.  
  
Inuyasha muttered something incoherent.  
  
"Well, I didn't mean I'll never go to my time again," Kagome said slowly. "I just meant... not just that I want to stay with you, but that I won't -- I won't go for long. And I'll always come back to you."  
  
Inuyasha was still staring at the fishes in the water. He leaned forward and flicked his fingers at them, causing them to dart under rocks. He had been alone for a long time, Kagome knew, and had gotten hurt by Kikyo, through Naraku's betrayal, just when he thought he had found somewhere to belong. It must have made him feel even more lonely, she thought. He'd never admit it in the open; his tough-guy image was what he used as armor. But Kagome knew that he was only just starting to soften up.   
  
At least he knows for sure that he isn't alone, she thought. She rested her cheek on his shoulder, just glad to be beside him. He stiffened, then gradually relaxed enough to rest his head on hers.   
  
"I'm glad you're here," he said quietly. "And I was glad you were right there when I woke up, even if what came next was pretty nasty."  
  
Kagome slipped her hand into Inuyasha's and squeezed his fingers. After a moment, he squeezed back. With their hands clasped, they set off down the riverbank to join their friends.  
  
THE END  
  
NOTE: I wanted to thank everyone who has read this fic. Yes, obviously there will be a sequel, although not immediately. "Lost" is primarily about Inuyasha's return, and that's done with; a further story would have a different, though connected, focus.  
  
At present there is another story that demands my attention, and it needs to be out of my system before I can put up anything more from this story. 


End file.
